Study: Aussie Youth Are Taking Less Drugs And Feeling Less Happy

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A study led by oOh!Media-owned Junkee Media focusing on Gen Z and Gen Y, has found young Australians are taking less drugs and consider themselves less happy than their older counterparts.

As well as this, they are driven less by FOMO (Fear of Missing Out) and are getting more enthusiastic about sustainability, equality and expect brands they interact with to also care.

The Truth and Share research project conducted by Pollinate Research for Junkee Media and Locate by oOh! also found that daily usage of Facebook fell slightly amongst Australian youth but was still used by 94 per cent of respondents every day.

The research, presented as part of Vivid Ideas, also provided advertisers with insights in how they can create deeper connections, with Out Of Home advertising proving a powerful medium to reach the audience.

Junkee Media’s CEO Neil Ackland said Truth or Share, which gives advertisers critical insights they need to know to create deeper connections with the younger audience, also showed significant attitudinal and behavioral difference between the Gen Y’s and Z’s.

“We first started tracking the differences between the generations last year and we are seeing an even great differences between Gen Z and Gen Y,” Ackland said.

“On the whole, we saw that young people are generally becoming less rebellious, carefree and uninhibited, and are becoming more conservative, ambitious and materialistic.

“The good news for advertisers though is that both audiences are receptive to advertising, particularly if it is contextually relevant to them.”

The research, some of which is being unveiled at the Vivid Ideas Exchange in Sydney this week, showed:

Gen Z are less happy (67 per cent compared to 74 per cent in 2017), less optimistic (69 per cent compared to 73 per cent in 2017) and more concerned about their health and wellbeing (75 per cent compared to 71 per cent in 2017);
Gen Z and Gen Y are becoming more distinct with Gen Z more ambitious (84 per cent as opposed to Gen Y at 74 per cent) and hold stronger moral values (80 per cent as opposed to Gen Y at 70 per cent);
Social media usage among young Australians is on the decline, with average daily usages of Facebook dropping from 98 per cent in 2017 to 94 per cent in 2018, Instagram dropping to 73 per cent in 2018 from 74 per cent in 2017 and Snapchat falling sharply from 66 per cent in 2017 to 52 per cent in 2018.
Social media usage by Current University and TAFE students varies, with this group using Facebook less (94 per cent as opposed to 98 per cent in 2017), Instagram less (72 per cent as opposed to 74 per cent in 2017) and Snapchat bucked the trend usage but still lower than Facebook and Instagram (58 per cent as opposed to 56 per cent in 2017);
The top three brands most trusted by Australians aged 16-35 are PayPal (71 per cent, Qantas (69 per cent) and Microsoft (53 per cent);
Two in three Gen Y and Gen Zs are supportive of brands producing great content if it is high quality, relevant and clearly branded.
74 per cent of young Australians said ads or content that features a celebrity or influencer is not at all important to them.
The rise of millennials who want brands to act ethically and with integrity has also risen over the last five years from 40 per cent to 55 per cent;
78 per cent of Gen Y and Z’s are not opposed to liking outdoor ads that tie in with ‘wherever they are’ or ‘whatever they’re doing’; and
76 per cent of young Australians looked for more information about something that they saw on advertising when out and about;

Check out the graph of the findings here:

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